I only had a little time to work on the car today, and I'm really, really tired right now, so I'll post the pics, and quickly annotate a few of them.

Just in case you were wondering, we do have patterns available for making custom covers for your very own 959. This fabric is the stretchy style that is like smooth stockings on the outside with a soft cotton-like side on inside:

My speaker grilles are cracked, and I think these are NLA from Porsche. Anyone have a good set to sell?

Here's the new electronic switch that goes in the door handle. About $75 - the old one was not repairable. I think I might have contributed to it's breaking when I was putting the lock cylinder back together. See next few photos for the proper assembly.

The switch has a three-pronged plug. The center pin appears to be the common ground for the switch.

Here's a closeup of the actual switch mechanism. There are two microswitches in there and the thing is very fragile.

Door handle with switch installed. If this doesn't look like your door handle, then you probably don't have electronic locks. I'm not really too sure why they made the driver's side door lock power controlled - other sports cars I've seen have the passenger door wired to reflect the driver's door, so that the driver's door itself acts as a master switch for the car.

Be sure to reinstall the little clip that holds the wire in place.

See the indentations in the plastic piece that goes on the end of the lock cylinder? This must mate with the switch. Also becareful holding the cylinder without the key inserted (as I am doing in the photo). The pins are spring-loaded and can easily fall out of the cylinder.

Here are the indentations as they are installed in the lock cylinder. Again, make sure this lines up with the little pin in the switch.

When the assembly is snapped onto the door handle, I recommend putting the key in the lock and testing both positions of the key / switch with a multimeter. The one I have shown here tests for continuity by beeping. Very handy, so that you don't have to continually look at the gauge. I think this one is $10 at Radio Shack.

Here we are preparing the door panel with an Appbiz (where did he get that name from) moisture barrier. Although not original to the 959, it's a very good upgrade to protect the door panel from car wash water or the occassional rain.

When putting the door panel back on, make sure that you have all of the door clips installed, and replace them if they are old and brittle, or missing altogether. On this panel, there were only three. On BMW panels, there seem to be about 10-15 of them.

I removed the plastic speaker enclosure so that I could get a better idea on where to cut the circle for the speaker hole.

Door panel installed. I'm still wondering how they managed to get that black overspray on the door panel. Again, though this is completely covered by the door pockets and their upper lid, so I'm not going to try to remove it at this time.

- Test your window switches to make sure they work.
- Test your mirror switch
- Check the opening and closing of the door
- Check the window - make sure it goes up and down fully without hanging on something. Actually, it's best to do this before you put the door panel on too, so that you can see if it's getting caught on anything inside the door
- Check the proper operation of your locks
- Check your speaker (although you can always easily remove it again later).
- Make sure you didn't leave any tools or hardware in the door that can rattle.

Wayne: On the speaker grills, contact a guy here on the board with the handle "si Banker." He made up some aluminum grill frames that reused the factory mesh inserts. I bought a set, and they're very slick and look OEM.

Also, I think it looks like someone tried to spray black into the door pocket while it was still attached to the door (see photo above). Very weird. Seeing that picture again and again, it's bothering me, but it's completely hidden by the door pocket, so I probably shouldn't mess with it.

Also, I think it looks like someone tried to spray black into the door pocket while it was still attached to the door (see photo above). Very weird. Seeing that picture again and again, it's bothering me, but it's completely hidden by the door pocket, so I probably shouldn't mess with it.

-Wayne

That would drive me crazy seeing that paint in there. I bet it could be removed if you are careful. Simple Green and a scrub brush can sometimes even get pant off.

That car has some Bizzare things done to it. Have you determined how many owners it has had? Seems like its past is sorted. Killer car though !

Also, I think it looks like someone tried to spray black into the door pocket while it was still attached to the door (see photo above). Very weird. Seeing that picture again and again, it's bothering me, but it's completely hidden by the door pocket, so I probably shouldn't mess with it.

-Wayne

I would try a tiny bit of Enamel Reducer on a small spot to see if it wipes away. If not then a small amount of good quality automotive Lacquer Thinner. I've done this on cars with spray paint graffiti and the paint came right off.

I'm not really too sure why they made the driver's side door lock power controlled - other sports cars I've seen have the passenger door wired to reflect the driver's door, so that the driver's door itself acts as a master switch for the car.

My wife's '99 miata has the passenger's side as the power lock.

I can only think of one reason why the driver's door would be the power lock. If you're with a woman, you'll unlock her door first which means that yours will be unlocked when you get to it. If you are by yourself, then you don't need the pass side to unlock.

Just a WAG.

__________________
Steve
'08 Boxster RS60 Spyder #0099/1960
- never named a car before, but this is Charlotte.
'88 targa SOLD 2004 - gone but not forgotten